Aimed at creating awareness on alarming case of suicide and mental health among resettled Bhutanese in the United States, the community artists have been gearing up in organizing a music event and information-sharing event on Feb. 28, in Akron, Ohio.
The “Stop Suicide Project” poster
Named as the “Stop Suicide Project“, the event would mark a release of a thematic music video on suicide prevention and mental health, according to the event coordinator and composer Amber Subba.
“Through the medium of music, we seek to encourage dialogue in the Bhutanese community about mental health issues,” said Subba, explaining the main objective of the event.
The song in the yet to be released music video was jointly written and composed by Subba and two other singers, Kishor Siwakoti and Arjun Rasaily. It was arranged, recorded and mixed my Kamal Rai.
Rasaily said, “We will be really happy if the music is shared and reached to all our people.”
Siwakoti told Bhutan News Service that around a dozen of Bhutanese singers have collaborated in production of this music video, presented by Menuka Memorial Foundation and Filmed by Atlanta-based Rhythm Screen Creation.
The Menuka Memorial Foundation, a non-profit formed by singer Siwakoti in the memory of his mother Menuka, Druk Fusion Band, and International Institute of Akron, Rhythm Screen Creations among others have been collaborating for the event.
According to Siwakoti, the event has been made possible by the contributions of supporters and donors. “The project committee would like to thank all the donors and artists for all their valuable contributions.”
A number of artists from various states are also reported to have confirmed their performances during event, which is free to public.
Meanwhile, various mental health experts and community leaders would also do presentations on mental health issues. There will also be two representatives from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
The program has been scheduled for this Saturday at North High School (985 Gorge Boulevard, Akron, OH 44310) from 2:00 p.m EST. (Door opens at 1:00 p.m.).
An early morning fire that broke out in Sarbhang bazaar February 15, razed eighty one houses and shops to ashes. The inferno is suspected to have started in a shoe shop, according to the Kuensel, Bhutan’s national daily.
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay tweeted and updated about his visit to the rubble site in his facebook status. According to a news source in Sarbhang, the fire destroyed major part of the bazaar and it could not be contained because of the wind blowing.
Rubble of Sarpang bazaar fire/Photo FB of Tshering Tobgay
It took more than two hours to contain the fire by two fire extinguishing engines, police, army and volunteers. There is no report of casulty. The victims are evacuated to multipurpose hall of district office in Sarpang, as per kuensel report.
The bhutan broadcasting service (BBS)reported a little more details of the fire. According to BBS, none of the shop owners had insurance to get the claims processed for rebuilding their shops. Even worse is the situation for most of them having no land to mortgage against the loan they asked to the government.
Department of disaster management is to investigate the cause of fire.
Kamal Basnet was at the tender age of eight when his family left Bhutan in 1993. His journey to an unknown destination began at this novice age when the Basnet family decided to leave their home country for fear of being persecuted after the pro-democratic movement in 1990.
Kamal began his primary education in Khudunabari camp which was an open sky school, classes taken under the trees and children sitting on the dusty floor, barely on a jute mat. When he left Bhutan for good, he was in grade four at Kanglung Primary School in eastern Bhutan.
Kamal says,”though it was a journey to nowhere, I could harbor a hope for some good days ahead, after being able to continue education in camp school.” He passed grade ten from Sunrise Academy of Khudunabari camp in 2001. Kamal does not forget those school days in camp where students like him had no light to study at night thanks to the low supply of kerosene by UNHCR. “There was no way to study until late night even while preparing for the external exams”, Kamal remembers those hard days.
Resettlement, initially a journey to another unknown land, finally brought a peace of mind and stabilize the family economy.
The art of Pralhad Gurung, a refugee from Bhutan; has been selected for exhibition in Paris, France.
Gurung with the theme on flag translated to Dzongkha/Photo Art Warning the World
The competition for exhibition was organized by Paris based foundation “ Art warning the world.” Application to submit the art work was invited from all countries across the globe last year. Out of numerous application from 200 countries submitted for competition, 202 paintings, photos and videos were selected and translated in135 languages. Gurung’s painting in the national flag of Bhutan, his native country, was among those selected for the show.
Pic. Gurung`s selected painting/Photo: Art Warning the world.
Prahlad’s painting conceptualized a boy born in refugee camp, who daringly hope to be the hero of freedom. The painting on the flag of Bhutan also carries the bold stroke of Gurung’s brush to represent his refugee status with bamboo mess on the flag. The artist were given the theme “When the word freedom ceases to appear in our dictionaries, it will be too late to react in Bhutan” which was translated in national language of Bhutan, Dzongkha.
According to Prahlad Gurung, it is a great honor for a camp grown artist to have the painting selected for display in Paris exhibition pushing ahead of the applicants from Bhutan.
Mr. Gurung is graduating Masters of Fine Arts (Filmmaking, Drawings/Painting & Design) from Cornish University, UK. He co-founded IFACANS International Foundation in seven
different refugee camps in Nepal and is now engaged in fine arts projects in Cambodia. ung
Mr Gurung also co-conceived the historical Bhutanese movie” In Search of a Nation and has been promoting the movie in different film festivals.
Mr. Gurung`s art work is on show on Paris Contemporary Museum since July 2013 and made available by the foundation February 12, 2015 on its web page.
ART WARNING THE WORLD is a global artwork for the defense of the Freedom, created by the French visual artist Klaus Guingand.
Importance of place name The place name has a symbolic meaning and conveys the continuation of historical as well as social values. The name provides the identity of a specific community and their emotional attachment to that place that forms the part and parcel of the attribute. It is universally accepted that a place name bestows the fundamental wellbeing of the individuals and to be familiar with places and its nomenclature makes one lucid and esteemed. To know the place name means soul searching of spirit of that society. So the common understanding of the human traits is to keep the name original, consistent and permanent. The place name has the reference or the datum and that might have lost profound meaning due to multiple factors. Place name is equally important as it connotes the values of ethnic significance, evokes sense of belonging and reflects social consciousness. Therefore it’s too obvious for any people to react with discontent and sometimes with anguish when the name of a place is changed completely or altered in sound.
Some reviews There are many theories in regard to Nepali settlement in Bhutan and each of them carries certain weight. The dynamism of migration might have initiated at the concurrent time of world exploration era that changed the perception of world geography. We have limited authentic literatures to draw conclusions as literatures coded are heavily bent to fulfill the purpose of either the author or the sponsors. The very ‘interest’ played the major role because the unwanted things are over exaggerated where the factual things are underwritten. We can develop a synergy from the postulate of Tibetan monk by name Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel who escaped the Tibetan coups, came to Bhutan, established a specific dual system of rule and drew a rough delineation of Bhutan. In the process of building a strong nationhood and safeguard it, he built many forts called as ‘dzong’. Shabdrung had limited resources especially the human capital, both the semiskilled and unskilled force. Bhutan might have just about 50,000 populations during the reign of Shabdrung. Since the motive of Bhutan is to hide the real population figure we can extrapolate and get the approximate number. During that time, the world population was about 560 million and today we have about 7252 million populations. And today Bhutan has 750,000 populations and on 1600 AD, its population would be just about 50,000 by considering the same growth rate throughout this entire period. At times we need to consider the immigration factors and other vital data which may still reduce the figure. The settlement of significant number of Tibetan refugees in Bhutan during the annexation of Tibet by China and migration of ethnic Nepali from southern border contributed for the sudden jump of Bhutan’s population. There seems only the pull stigma but the push parameter was not required as the adsorption was not at the threshold at any means.
Whatever may be the size of existing population, Shabdrung was compelled to bring manpower from the neighboring nations. Nepalese arts and architecture was at its zenith during that time and he hired craftsmen, mason and other workers which was his ‘charity of choice’. And being lama himself he had high regards to the home of Lord Buddha. There was no other way to build those forts with only Bhutanese manpower.
Another chronicle throws some light that King Bahadur Shah expanded Nepal till river Tista at the east. After completing the expansion, he stationed large Nepali population usually the military families on the bank of river Tista to safeguard the eastern border. Later British East India Company and Nepal demarcated the size of that region in 1816 and the very event brought some population dynamism. Considering the bravery of Nepali soldiers the company recruited some cadres in the British regiments, some were obliged to settle in the hills while a few families crossed Tista and eventually entered Bhutan. The families that entered Bhutan made many shifting in the process of finding more durable environment that would enable them to survive from the diseases. Southern belt was very dense with malicious diseases that prevented them to remain on that part and the people kept on searching for the relatively suitable biomes. And our ancestry ultimately reached such suitably habituated places which among them is ‘Lalidhap’. Still looking deeper or considering the reality of time on growth and developmental dimensions, it was too obvious to find a natural place for making a living. One could move to whichever place was conducive for them, utilize the resources and survive from all sorts of foes.
Lalidhap Settlement
In mid 1800 some 11 Gurung families reached at a place between Samakhola and Pepingkhola and converted that place into a semi-permanent settlement. It was these people who named that settlement as Lalidhap. In Nepali taxonomy, ‘Lali’ mean Amoora Wallichii, a species of tree that grows along rhododendron in the high altitudes and serves as fodder for cattle. And ‘Dhap’ is the even land at the foot of high elevation usually the mountains. So Lalidhap was a name given to the even land at the foot of mountain with lots of Lali vegetation. And this translation provides very relevant meaning as the site lies on the lap of ‘Jhilkedara’. This very Lalidhap became the foundation of Lalidhapper village. They made the settlement between Dhodray and Darichowk.
A view of Dagna in Goshi/photo: google images
Most probably this could be the first Nepali settlement in Dagapela belt, between Samakhola and Pepingkhola. The settlement site was chosen in the very strategic location, the only pass that would allow the entrance to that catchment zone. There was just one entrance way from Akaray cliff, which had been used by wild elephant movement during the winter. The Bengal wild elephants and other big animals used this region as the reserve fodder center because of its remoteness and lack of human intervention. The animal route continues along Muldara till it dissolves at Lampokhari, the source of Samakhola while the settlement site bifurcates toward the east from a place named as ‘Dhodhray’. Further north is Jutheydara range, the barren mountains with snow clads towards Chimakoti side.
The settlement site is a vast extension of untamed land, engulfed between Betenekhola towards south, Muldara on the north and Dhapperkhola on the east. Betine portion is quite steep in gradient, very marshy and wet and covered by the thick canopy of cane and wild bamboo. This region is still very much inflicted by leeches and other blood sucker parasites. Across Muldara and Dhapperkhola also has thick blanket of wild bamboo, the mixture of Kaday-malingo, Ningalo, Malingo, etc. But the settlement site was and is in the middle of very dense forest but is not covered by bamboo that facilitates the settlement. The site has abundant running streams and rivulets mainly for human use. The whole place of settlement has a very gentle slope without folds or major depressions. The weather factors were supportive even though the summer would be long and very wet.
In the initial phase, the place had the advantage for the animals rearing and that was what the Gurung family had been doing. But by the passage of time they had been more aware of self-sufficiency and began cultivating randomly. So they made a more permanent base by building houses and undertaking some patchy farming. They cultivated mainly the corns, potatoes and buckwheat. With the lack of innovation, better or place specific seeds they sow the corn on March and harvest only in November. This explains the slow but gradual process of evolution of agrarian group from a foraging state. This group had been living in a small group in complete isolation, nomadic in nature and setting its norms and values. In a discrete pattern, at-least two-three families formed a union and built the houses at one hill-lock or in the upper slope and their field used to be at the lower gradient. This very mechanism was useful to supervise the crops and also for the security reasons.
They built houses on raised platform from rubble stone masonry but the superstructures were the wooden ones. Most of the foundations were rectangular in shape but one was round at Suparaychowk. That round structure had an altar and one could predict that this could be either their place of worship or had some religious significance in that society. Most of the houses had axed splited wooden shingles walls while some had round ones also. They didn’t use mud mortar which was very common during that time on other parts of country. Except door there were no other openings like window. Each house had a central fire place, the main source of heat to keep them warm. They built stone water spout and planted big fig trees.
This group of people gave the name of different places in their flourishing language. The name has some connections with how they are built or look, some natural objects, landmark or how they are defined. Those places name are neutral and are free from any color or race. This area was not habituated by any groups before and it was not named by any other ethnic groups. Had the place been named before they would have used the same nomenclature and would have given the continuity but the lack of human interventions compelled them to call it by a specific name. They have to identify a place irrespective of the geographical location. Except ‘Bahunchowk’- the secondary shifting place named after a cowboy who felled from the fodder tree and died there. In order to honor or remember that person, ‘Bahunchowk’ was named. This whole area is complete in setting with special or typical Nepali flavor. They lived there till the change of century and in order to find the better opportunities or fortunes they dispersed to other parts of the country while other fresh group occupied that place.
The election of Camp Management Committee (CMC) was concluded on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 in both refugee camps- Beldangi, Jhapa and Sanischare, Morang Nepal.
Sancha Hang Subba is re-elected as a Camp Secretary of Beldangi refugee camp with 131 votes. Other candidates for Camp Secretary Suk Bahadur Rai acquire 105 votes and Tara Pulami get 05 votes.
Meanwhile, Champa Singh Rai and Phul Maya Khati were elected as a Camp Secretary and Deputy camp secretary of Sanischare, Morang Nepal.
According to United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) Nepal, the two refugee camps, Beldangi and Sanischare, still hold around 20,000 Bhutanese refugees following resettlement of 94, 565 in various eight western countries. Of this, the United States have alone accepted 84, 008 for permanent settlement since the third country resettlement program begun in early 2008.
Rom Bista, Nashville,TN
During a short time off once my white manager, despite being not her concern, shot two questions at me—“Rom, if you don’t mind, can you tell me which country you belong to and what circumstances led you to the USA? Meanwhile, she offered me an option—whether to give an honest answer or not. I conceded not to disregard her curiosity. And without being more specific I went on to roll out the story.
Panoramic view of refugee camp in Nepal/File photo
“Ma’am, I belong to Bhutan where I was born, grew up there and had education”.
Before I hurried to pick the second answer she paused for a while and asked, “Then why you guys are called Nepali here?” referring to the other Bhutanese employees who initially had introduced as Nepalese to the hotel.
“It is because, I went on, and we are in fact the Bhutanese of Nepali origin. Our forefathers were born in Nepal, migrated to Bhutan hundreds of years ago, settled in the southern belts, expanded the population, tilled the rocky terrains and generated good revenues for the government. All went well until the then king, his ministers and cohorts began seeing us with ‘jaundiced eyes’! The growing population and booming economy in Southern Bhutan became the eyesore of the ruling dynasty. Consequently, as the time rolled by and basically with one pretext or the other, the government started tightening the knots of freedom on the southern population.
Income generation for refugees/File photo
At this, the manager looked more eager and solemn, and gave me a nod to continue.
“Initially the common folks silently bore the despotic wrath. However, when the oppression spilled all over and went out of proportion, the people hit the street one day and some even went to retaliate”.
Meanwhile, she raised her eyebrows and snapped again “then what?”
“Plunder, sporadic shootings to death, arrest and at times rape ensued. Armies and police were immediately deployed to hunt down the dissenting lot. In due course of time, when the newly and hastily- fermented repressive dictums gave birth to all tentacles of ruthlessness — increasing vigilance, harassments, questionings, arrests and at times even deaths— the southern dwellers mostly of Nepali origin had to pull out of the country to evade the systematic persecution.”
The hazel-eyed manager, seemingly without the blink of an eye, kept staring at me. This time she looked more firm and stony-faced.
Again I proceeded, “With heavy heart, the rigmarole of exodus began in the late 80’s as one-third of the population were forcibly evicted, traveled all the way through India and finally found a refuge at a riverside in eastern Nepal.”
‘Day by day more families trickled in and joined the new, obscure settlement and when the alien population grew alarmingly large, it drew the attention of the Nepalese government and subsequently UNHCR (United Nation High Commission for Refugees) took over.
A long pause ensued. The lady closed her eyes seemingly trying to consolidate the stock of the saddening situation.
“We lived as refugees for nineteen years”, I went on. “And with no tangible solution at sight and the future looming increasingly large, some Good Samaritans from United Nations in collaboration with seven refugee recipient countries readily stepped forward and offered primarily two options— to be relocated somewhere in the Third World or live in the camps forever.”
This time the young blond brightened up and gasped, “Hunh, hunh!”
Collecting rations for fifteen days to subsist/File photo
“Heated debates, arguments, discussions and differences in the opinions thereafter in many of the families transpired and engulfed the entire seven camps”, I resumed. “Although, in the beginning, the very first offer received a cold response, most people eventually gave in. Today, among the seven countries eighty thousand have already resettled in the USA alone and in the process, a small chunk of the caravan made their way to Nashville. Indeed, a few thousands are still making hue and cry in an apparent bid to get back to Bhutan but to no avail”.
“This is the odyssey of our long and sagacious trail from Bhutan to America and this is how I’ m right in front of you and at times, having lived in Nepal with no differences especially with regard to origin, culture and the way of life, we do not hesitate to call ourselves Nepali, Ma’am!’
The young manager looked enlightened and gave me a pat,”Thank you, Rom. You guys are incredible.”
Many Americans, until we furnish our ids, unwittingly nurture doubts on our part of being illegal aliens. Gazing at our relatively inferior built ( no pun intended) some even go to the extent of calling us ‘migos’ (friends in Spanish lingo).
Further, when we show up in Nepali attire—daura, suruwal and topi in most occasions, speak Nepali and claim ourselves Nepalese, many in the Western World tend to see an array of confusions and would like to dig more of the truth.
Furthermore, our saga of tumult, the long travail and the eventual sunshine and renewal of lives in the far-off lands can invoke many pens and most importantly—a subject of societal research.
Therefore, as far as we can, we should always be handy, forthright and well- equipped with our fairly adventurous tale and above all, upon being asked we should be ready to explain our true self so as to dispel all dubiety in the eyes of all strangers.
US certified soccer referee Jitu Basnet told the Bhutan News Service that the tournament has been scheduled for June this year.
“The recent meeting of the organizing committee decided to hold the fifth annual interstate soccer tournament from June 19-21,” said Basnet. According to Basnet, around 40 teams from various states are expected to join the tournament.
The Georgian team enjoy victory during the fourth annual interstate soccer tournament last year
Suman Subba, organizing committee coordinator, has informed that the mission of organizing such a grand event “is to strength the social fabric of the Bhutanese community”.
“We primarily aim to engage our youths and community volunteers in such a sport. I am sure it provides a platform of good networking and collaboration opportunities among the resettled Bhutanese,” added Subba.
According to Subba, the host committee also decided to honor and recognize veteran Bhutanese soccer players and other dedicated community volunteers.
The organizing committee has been planning to complete all matches on the first two days and the finale on the third day. It is learnt to have been coordinating with local agencies to book playgrounds and arrange other logistics.
The tournament is expected to cost around US $ 30,000-$40,000. Volunteers from the host community have been learnt to be planning to contribute to add up to entry fees that would be charged to each team to reach the financial target for the entire management.
Each team would be charged an entry of US $ 501, according to Subba. The first two team will receive troopies and some cash prizes.
A group of former Bhutanese soccer players from Atlanta, Georgia initiated the scheme of organizing interstate soccer tournament on annual basis in 2011 by organizing the first game in Atlanta, Georgia. The second and third tournaments were held in California and Texas respectively, while the fourth tournament was held in Erie, PA, last year.
The outgoing president Mukti Bhurtel and treasurer Bhim Kumari Sapkota of the Bhutanese Community of Utah (BCU) along with team members handed over their responsibilities to the newly elected board of directors in a gathering organized in local LDS church in Salt Lake City,Utah on Jan 17.
Newly elected executive board of BCU
The BUC electoral committee conducted election last week where Jaga Adhikari, Ryam Neupane, Tek Neupane, Kubir Acharya (Kumar), Puspa Gautam, Bishnu Thapaliya and Bishnu Osti elected as new executives.
The community nominated Ryam Neupane, BCU youth leader, to take the charge of president, Jaga Adhikari as vice president, Tek Neupane as secretary, Bishnu Osti as assistant secretary, Pushpa Gautam as treasurer, Bishnu Thapaliya as assistant treasurer and Kubir Acharya as public relation and communication coordinator.
Speaking at the meeting, newly elected board chair expressed his aspiration to work on employment, computer education, games and sports. Some of his other commitments included strengthening of Nepali language, citizenship class continuation and engagement of elderly citizens through various recreational programs.
The Bhutanese Community in Utah, a non-profit charitable organization, elects its new board every two years.
People from Sarchop and Tamang community in Beldangi refugee camp celebrated Sonam Losar —the beginning of the New Year,by organizing various programs and exchanging good wishes on Wednesday.
Camp Secretary Sancha Hang speaking.Photo/Yubaraj Sampang
They were gathered together at Beldangi football ground to participate in a special cultural program, followed by display of different traditional tools including playing archery and sharing variety of traditional food together and bartering aspirations.
Meanwhile, Camp Secretary of Beldangi, Sancha Hang Subba, former Camp Secretaries, representatives from different camp based agencies and senior citizens joined the celebration and extended their wishes for the program.
This year marks 2,851th celebration of Sonam Losar. The meaning of Losar is New Year in the languages of Tibeto-Burmese origins. Lo means year, and Sar means new. ‘Lo-Chhar’ in Tamang also means the same thing. They follow the lunar calendar, along with the Buddhist and Bon people. But some mark Sonam Losar as their New Year, whereas many, including Sherpas and Bhotes, mark Gyalbo Losar. The meaning of Sonam (swenam) is blessing.
In Losar farmers, professionals, and all members of society seek blessings for good fortune.
